Startups need to embrace corporate social responsibility to capitalise on a growing trend among consumers and make the world a better place, Zendesk vice president of public policy and social impact Tiffany Apczynski says.
She says that more than 90% of consumers around the world today will move to brands associated with a good cause.
During her talk at Zendesk’s Relate Live Sydney conference, a show of hands revealed most people in the room are or want to be conscious consumers.
“Startups and social responsibility go hand in hand,” Apczynski tells StartupSmart.
“At the end of the day they need there to be a successful world for their product to grow and mature.
“You can’t be a successful startup if the economy is in crisis. You can’t grow your customers if they’re so sidelined by social issues that they can’t even think about your innovative product.”
Beyond working for the greater good, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an increasing demand of modern world consumers.
Apczynski says half of the Australian population believes it’s important for a company they buy from to demonstrate a high level of social responsibility, while one in three Australians will choose to buy from socially responsible companies.
Nearly 60% of Australian consumers will switch to brands associated with a good cause if the product or service is of a similar quality, she says.
“Why is CSR suddenly becoming this topical thing that we have to respond to?” Apczynski says.
“Millennials: the world’s youngest consumer market.”
During her talk, Apczynski said the US alone is home to more than 80 million Millennials, a market worth over $US2 trillion (A$2.6 trillion).
More than 80% of them use CSR to determine what they buy, 78% use it to decide where they work and 64% use it when investing in stocks or mutual funds, she says.
